Writers are insane
by Rae Artemis
Summary: Well I think the title says it all but in case it doesn't this chronicles the insane ravings of a fanfic writer me and the fun fanfic has brought to my mental state.
1. First Impressions

Okay, here is the usual disclaimer: I do not own supernatural, nor any character created by the show, nor some of the ones in this story 'cause I stole them from almost 'real' life (my friends). Nor am I making any money from this unless my friends try and bribe me not to put it up, but I will anyway, so alas no money.

A/N: Here is yet another installment in my insanity series, this is the first 'meeting' of Rae and the boys, kinda funny I think. I wrote it so I'm biased but let me know what you all think.

Beta'd by the wonderful chocolatejet, who even wrote the email credited to her in the story! Talk about a full service beta, eh?

Good writing

Serenity for all

Sincerely Rae Artemis

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First Impressions

"HELLO!" Dean bellowed into the unresponsive girl's ear. "Hey! Hey you, can you hear me? Sam, I thought you said she would listen to us?"

"I thought I saw her notice me the other day and I'm sure she noticed you earlier today. I swear Dean she just needs to be pushed a little further and she'll notice us." Sam sidestepped as the brunette walked past him, singing quietly to herself. "I don't know Dean, I really thought she'd see us this time."

The Winchester brothers stared at Rae Artemis, as she cranked up the volume on the movie she was watching, staring determinedly at it. As 'Doom' continued she tried to get into the movie but their chatter kept distracting her. Dean kept pestering her and waving his hand in front of her face and stealing popcorn from the big green bowl on her lap; it took all her self-control not to smack him good and hard. Sam was no better; he kept asking her in a quiet, maddeningly calm voice if she could see him. If he asked her one more time…

"Rae? Rae this is Sam Winchester, can you see or hear me? Just nod if you can, okay?" Sam leaned forward in his chair and watched her intently. "Maybe I was wrong. Maybe she'll never see us." He flopped back into the chair defeated.

"Or maybe she's just stubborn, hey Sammy?" Dean stole another handful of her popcorn, and ate it thoughtfully, a familiar gleam in his eyes. It was the same look he got when he was pulling pranks on Sam, who winced out of habit. This look meant a trick was going to happen and that wasn't always a good thing. Sam ran his fingers through his hair, unconsciously remembering the Nair incident.

"Dean, what are you going to do?" Sam carefully asked his older brother as he began to slowly move away from Rae.

"Nothing much Sam other than testing a theory you poised when we started visiting writers. You said that depending how much the person 'believes', for lack of a better word, the more we can do."

"Yeah, so if someone were to totally 'let go' of reality they would in effect pull us onto theirs but only to them and others who had also 'let go'. What are you going to do Dean?" Sam asked, dread in his voice, Dean only got thoughtful like this right before the worst hit.

"Just an experiment, college boy, I think you'll like it too." Dean grabbed the huge bowl of popcorn out of Rae's hands and poured it over her head, grinning like a maniac. "Hmm, I think that conclusively proves she does see us and does believe, even if she doesn't want to. Wouldn't you say so Sammy?" Dean turned to Sam, smirking in his triumph. He didn't see Rae picking up the now empty bowl, or her hands as she dropped it on his head.

"I already have a ghost, I don't need two more that are very strong figments of my imagination!" Rae sprinted for her bedroom door, slamming it to the surprise of both Winchesters.

"Well that was unexpected." Sam deadpanned at Dean who was brushing popcorn off his clothes.

"I'll say. If you were to find out I was real wouldn't you be overjoyed?" Sam gave his brother a blank look. "Never mind you don't count, you're family and though you may look like a chick with that long hair, you aren't"

"Hey! I-"

"Resemble that remark, I know. What are you going to do about her?" He jerked his head to the bedroom door, which was leaking out Great Big Sea's 'Let it go', somehow appropriate for the situation.

"Me! Why do I have to 'deal' with anything? It was you who freaked her out, you made the mess, yo-"

"I just proved she can see us, so you go and finish the job. That's how we work Sammy, as a team?" Dean began snacking on the unpolluted popcorn and grabbed the remote to the DVD player. "Hey does she have any good movies? Never mind, I found 'em."

Sam stood up and took a steadying breath, Okay she's freaked, and now time to freak her out even more. He squared his shoulders, and took one last look at his brother who was apparently settling in for a long wait. Once more into the breach! Sam thought sarcastically as he knocked on the door, fairly sure she wouldn't hear it.

"Rae? It's Sam, um, can we talk?" Sam asked, mentally kicking himself for the uninspired opening line. "Rae, seriously I just wanna talk. I'll leave Dean out here, okay?" Still getting no response, Sam slowly opened the door, what he saw surprised him a little.

Rae sat calmly on her bed, her computer in front of her surfing the Internet, the music blaring from a small stereo in the corner. Rae rocked a little as she typed and was singing desperately under her breath but other than that she appeared fairly calm.

"Rae?" Sam called to her but she either couldn't hear him or was ignoring him. Sam turned down the stereo to just mildly deafening and sat down on the furthest corner of the bed from Rae. "Um, Rae? Are you okay? I don't want to scare you but I think you should probably talk to someone right now and since I'm here…" He let his voice trail off, the typing continuing, unhindered by the vocal interruption. "Rae? Can you hear me?" Her head snapped up and the typing ceased, a slightly maniacal look gleaming in her eyes.

"Yes, I can hear you 'Sam', and yes, I am fine. So you and 'Dean' should probably go now, my roommate will be back soon and she is kind of antisocial." She shook slightly as she fought to maintain eye contact with him, this figment of her obviously over active imagination. Sure she'd wondered what would it be like to talk to these guys but never in her life had she thought her mind would snap and she'd become delusional enough to 'find out'.

"I get the feeling it might be a bad thing to leave you alone right now, so why don't we talk for a little while, and then me and Dean will leave. Does that sound okay?" Sam spoke in a soothing voice, the same voice you would use with a jumper on a ledge. Calm, relaxing, just come back in the window and we'll talk, kind of voice.

"Nope, I'm fine, really. Just checking for signs of mental deterioration, and all that. You know, regular Friday night fun stuff." She grinned slowly, insanity building up behind her eyes, threatening to burst the thin dam of her 'sanity' at any moment.

"Rae I swear you're not crazy, we've met up with other authors who can see us. Um, let's see, there's P., she can see us, so can Anna Wolfe and um, Kat, or you know her as gdspgcfan and so can…hey Dean, who else?" Sam called out the door to Dean, who tore himself away from the movie long enough to throw back a few more names, WinchestersGirl, bjxmas, even morning sunlight and chocolatejet whom Rae had beta'd and been beta'd by. "We've met up with a lot of people and a lot of them have the same reaction as you. Don't freak okay? If you want you can message some people and see that you're not nuts - just tuned into a different mental frequency." Rae took a deep shaking breath and looked at him suspiciously before pulling up her email account,

"So if I email anyone you mentioned they'll say they've talked to you guys and that I'm not nuts?"

"Well it probably depends on how well you know them for the nuts thing but they will say they've spoken with us." Dean drawled as he leaned against the doorway, smiling broadly at his own wit. Sam threw him a dirty look and shook his head as Dean's smile just got bigger.

"Nice, aren't you suppose to let me handle this?"

"Yeah, well you're taking too long and I want to talk to her about this 'Wicked Little Girls' story she's doing." Dean entered the room and Rae scrambled back on the bed, not exactly the reaction she'd imagined would happen if either of the boys were to be in her bedroom. "Geez, it was just a little popcorn, not the end of the world, right?" Dean stopped moving and sat down on the floor, leafing through her CD collection. "Hmm, figured you'd be more death metal and less, whatever you call this." He pulled out 'The Hard And The Easy' by Great Big Sea, which Rae snatched out of his hand before throwing herself back to her end of the bed.

"Dean you're not helping, so why don't you-"

"I call it good music and I am going to email morning sunlight just to prove that I am insane and that you're not real." Rae's fingers flew over the keys and she sent off emails to all the writers she knew on Sam's list.

"Well now what?" Dean asked after ten minutes had gone by.

"We wait." Rae stated firmly, her arms crossed, eyes glued to the computer. A few more moments of uncomfortable silence went by.

"So how is it you guys exist?"

"World wide belief. Different levels of reality. All writers are insane and share a common delusion. Choose one, they all work in theory." Sam offered, his eyes searching her face. She appeared to be calming down. Her breathing had slowed, and she no longer had the jumper on a ledge quality.

"Oh, like in Spider Robinson's 'Callahan's Chronicles', different 'fictions' for time periods and alternate realities. Hmm maybe he really did talk to Jake…" Seeing the blank looks on their faces she realized they'd never read the Callahan Chronicles. "Oh come on! You've never heard of Callahan's or Lady Sally's House? Well it's a series that has time travellers and reality jumpers and they refer to the different ones as 'fictions', it's a great series, all about a bar and a House."

And so she proceeded to fill them in as to the going-ons of Lady Sally's House and Mike Callahan's tavern, all the way to the nuclear destructions of the bar and the closing of the house. By the time she was finished, she was calm, collected and had a number of email replies in her box.

"And drum roll please, the moment of truth." Rae murmured as she opened the first email from chocolatejet backing up the boys' story.

Hey Rae!

As to the question of your mental state, rest assured that you're sane (or as sane as fangirls go, anyway). Your reaction, however, is completely understandable. When the boys first appeared before me, I had to pinch myself four times (Dean added a fifth – the jerk left a bruise) to make sure I wasn't hallucinating. Alas, I was far from delirious – the realisation resulting in my passing out. Since then, they've been a royal pain in the ass, hanging over my shoulders as I try to write – constantly bombarding me with questions about alternate realities, and also, the significance of my username (both of which are subjects I refuse to discuss).

God, how I wish I actually was mentally unstable…

xchocolatejetx

She went on to read the others all backing up the fact she wasn't insane or not in a bad way at least.

"Okay I can admit when I'm wrong so I was wrong. There I said it, so what did you want to talk about Dean?"

"Well, just about how I keep getting the whammy put on me while Sam gets whammied in a different way but it's getting early, so next time." He got up from the floor stiffly, brushing off his jeans. "C'mon Sam we agreed to meet P. for breakfast before she goes to work and you promised chocolate rules that we'd drop by and chat stories, and childhood with her, so we gotta run." Dean gave a shrug of his shoulders in apology. "Next time we'll hang out and maybe talk shop. See you later Rae."

"Remember: you're not nuts, just tuned in to a different frequency." Sam smiled at her reassuringly. "Don't worry, we'll be back - we just have stuff to do today. Relax, you'll see us again."

"Okay. 'Bye." Rae gently put her laptop back on her desk and got ready for bed, sure at any moment she'd wake up and find it to be a really strange dream. As she fell asleep, she smiled at the look on Dean's face as the popcorn bowl was dumped on his head. "Served him right." Rae murmured quietly.


	2. Lakeside Inspirations

Okay, here is the usual disclaimer: I do not own supernatural, nor any character created by the show, nor some of the ones in this story 'cause I stole them from almost 'real' life (my friends). Nor am I making any money from this unless my friends try and bribe me not to put it up, but I will anyway, so alas no money.

A/N: Hey, there to all people reading this fic, I don't know if it is a 'crack' fic or what but it was fun to write this one so I did. I do plan to do others in the same vein or rather the same story line or whatever you may call this. I was driving by a lake and this idea hit me so hard I had to stop and write, I wrote until my laptop battery died two hours later! Call me crazy but it was fun! So I plan to write more of these, if anyone wants their pen name to be put in, message me with your name and if you want your story mentioned that too and I will try and put it in. This is just a fun fic, so no worries nothing is meant to be offensive or anything so chill and enjoy the madness. This is the first of the Rae Artemis Is Crazy series.

Beta'd: As usual by the gracious morning sunlight.

Good writing to everyone

Serenity for all

Sincerely Rae Artemis

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Lakeside Inspiration

A lone figure sat on the table, a deserted park picnic table on shores of a dark lake in the moonlight; smoke wafting from a flavoured miniature cigar, vanilla. Quiet muttering broke the utter silence of the night, the lake perfectly still reflecting the full moon. The one-sided argument was disjointed and sounded much harassed though there was only one person in it.

"Write dammit, write!" The girl slammed the palm of her hand against her forehead, trying to free the thoughts stuck in her mind. She placed the baby cigar on the table beside the Mac laptop, which leaked music softly into the night.

"Gorammit, why is it I can only write when I don't sleep? I never should have slept! If I hadn't been sleeping last night I would be writing now!" She shivered as the wind lazily stirred through the trees, gently but insistently blowing her hair in her eyes. She slammed her laptop shut cutting off the music and growled in frustration.

"Screw off wind! Geez, why can't I ever write during the day, when it's nice and sunny!" She called out to the wind as it began to pick up, cooling the night around her.

"Okay not fair at all, I finally get some time off of work and I get writer's block, where is the justice?" She sighed tying back her hair and opening the laptop to see the terrifyingly blank paper on it. She rubbed her hands together trying to warm them and find inspiration all at once.

"What do you want from me? Morning Sunlight said chocolate, old episodes, and chilling out. I did two out of three, what else do you want you damnable muses? Blood? Money?" She cried out to the very still lake, startling some sleeping Canadian geese who honked at her to be quiet. Picking up the cigar back up, she saw how it had smouldered to an early death; she picked a new one out of her bag, chocolate mint this time. She lit the cigar temporarily losing her night sight with the flare of the lighter so close to her eyes.

Two figures appeared to materialize in the shadowy tree line, both walking carefully so as not to alert her to their approach. As the shorter of the two came up behind her, he motioned the other one to be silent; this was going to be fun.

"Why do you smoke those? I mean it's not like you inhale or anything, so why?" He asked over her right shoulder, causing her to jump in alarm.

"Hellfire! Don't do that!" She scolded him, slapping him on the arm as he came around the table settling himself beside her, his taller companion following him. Both were smiling widely and the taller one shrugged his shoulders apologetically.

"Yeah, Sam you should be sorry! You know how freaked out I get here by myself at night!"

"Then don't write here, but back to my question, why do you smoke those Rae? What do you get out of it?" Dean asked quirking an eyebrow at her.

"If you must know it is just…I don't know…it kind helps the writing process, but it is bad for you which is why I don't inhale as you said. Anyway this covers two of the three things Morning Sunlight told me to do. It covers chocolate and chilling out all in one!"

"I'm sure she didn't want you to smoke! It is still unhealthy to smoke them period, mouth and tongue cancer and they're kinda gross." Sam piped up, sitting on the bench part, while Dean sat beside Rae on the top of the table.

"Thanks for the concern boys but I am a big girl, I am old enough to smoke, drink and vote! Yea independence! You keep this up Sam, and Dean won't be the only one getting his ass kicked in my next story."

"What? Why am I getting my 'ass kicked' as if that were possible? What did I do?" He tried an innocent look on her, which Rae met with a raised eyebrow and calculating look.

"Well you scared the hell outta me and you're bugging me about the cigars again, we went through this last time remember? My lungs, my call!"

"Sure. Fine. Whatever! I just don't want you dying or anything because otherwise every other fic on that site will have me dead okay? Geez show a little compassion and what do ya get?"

"Ignore him." Sam offered, not wanting to get beaten up in her next story.

"Always do." Rae responded making Sam grin and Dean mutter about them teaming up against him.

"So why are we here? I thought we were still in Brentwood Bay, working out that whole faerie magic thing with the Bestes?" Sam asked as Dean continued to sulk, arms folded over his chest.

"You are, or rather you were or…how does this whole thing work anyway?" Rae asked confused.

"Don't ask us we're just fictional characters, who you're obsessed with." Dean grumbled, no longer worried about the next story, at least not enough to stop teasing. Rae couldn't write death fics so he didn't mind getting beat up a little if it meant he could tease her, Sam could only take so much before he began asking why Dean was hostile and other Oprah like things, whereas Rae would just kick his ass in a story.

"Seriously Dean, next fic I will put you in a coma with only a male nurse to take care of you if you keep that up!" Rae threatened unconvincingly reaching towards the laptop to emphasize it. His smug smile faltered a little. She lit up another cigar, fighting the urge to blow a puff of smoke in his face.

"Rae you've gotta admit that you're more than a casual fan." Sam said diplomatically, hands up to show he meant no offence.

"Fine 'interested' but NOT obsessed…much." She conceded grudgingly, staring at the blank page on her laptop. "ANYWAY, point is…I'm stuck, I don't know what to write next, what to do, who to kill or mess with or anything. I am completely at a loss!" Rae shut the laptop to try and save power and get her frustrated point across. The wind began to pick up and the geese at the lake's edge honked in protest.

Both Winchesters looked at her slightly dumbfounded, they dealt with a lot of writers, being the fictional characters of a show that had left many fans wanting more from the season finale. Many fans had found and were typing away with their own ideas and conclusions, but very few had actually invited the boys to put in their own two cents. There were so few who were willing to let go of 'reality' and listen to the boys, though the number had begun to grow. Sam and Dean would be able to 'look in' on people writing about them but it was hard to influence people when they don't know you're there. The brothers enjoyed the relationship they had with Rae and the idea she might give up was unthinkable, it had been nice to control what happened to their lives, neither was willing to lose that.

"Rae, all writers go through dry spells, this will pass." Sam assured her calmly.

"Yeah, I mean it's not like you're giving up right?" Dean asked jokingly, sure it wasn't possible for her to him up. "I mean I can see that if it was just Sammy, but come on put me in that equation and it doesn't work." Rae continued staring at her hands in silence. "No you can't be giving up!"

"Well…it is just hard to write right now, and nobody except others on the site really get it, and…and it is just difficult to try and post when so many writers on the site are way better and…" She trailed off embarrassed at her outburst, looking up at Sam and Dean wanting for them to understand she wasn't giving up on them, just the writing. Rae turned away from their eyes and looked out at the lake, which had calmed from the wind, as had she after her rant.

"Well that was fun now, wasn't it?" She said sardonically turning back to her jury of two. "I guess you've seen me worse than that huh?" Rae smiled as a few memories of past hissy fits came back to her.

"Yeah, let's see there was that time that you wrote the story about the ICU and your sister read it and pointed out all the inconsistencies and you…" Dean began, a relieved smile on his face, and a teasing gleam in his eyes.

"Two words, male nurse." Rae said flatly, opening up the laptop again sitting back down at the table beside Dean, not looking at him for fear of smiling. "Well Sam do you have any ideas?" She looked down at the younger Winchester, and saw that his eyes held relief too.

"I really liked 'The Appointment' until the end that is. Why don't I ever get the girls?" He asked smiling as Dean made a face.

"Because you're my faithful, trusty sidekick, Geek Boy and sidekicks don't get the girl."

"In 'Batman and Robin', the sidekick Robin 'got' Batgirl."

"Okay that one, count 'em one time but name another I dare you." Dean dared his younger brother, whose face screwed up in concentration. Rae too tried to think of one such occasion but couldn't.

"See the hero always gets the girl." Dean crowed victoriously, Rae and Sam exchanging eye rolls.

"Okay so Sam next story you get the girl, and Dean…" Rae stopped trying to think of a reason Dean would be the one on the outs.

"Dean gets a bunch of girls?" Dean offered smirking at the thought.

"Dean goes to the dentist." Rae declared, watching the self-proclaimed hero pale visibly. Rae and Sam both burst out laughing at Dean's woeful expression.

Dean jumped off the table and ran to the water's edge chasing the Canadian geese towards Rae and his brother who had to abandon the picnic table as the geese half ran, half flew away from Dean. Rae carefully put the laptop back on the table and joined Sam in chasing Dean, eventually tackling Dean into the sand. The whole writing session degraded from there but Rae's confidence was back and so was the Winchester's faith that, with at least one writer, they never had to worry about losing each other.


	3. Late, Late Night Tv

Okay, here is the usual disclaimer: I do not own supernatural, nor any character created by the show, nor some of the ones in this story 'cause I stole them from almost 'real' life (my friends). Nor am I making any money from this unless my friends try and bribe me not to put it up, but I will anyway, so alas no money.

A/N: This has the mention of some fanfic authors of whom I am a fan, so thanks for the permission to use your names! Also I am not really insane, well I am but I'm not hurting anyone and these are fun to write so I intend to do more. If you want to be mentioned private message me and we'll talk, I like the idea of the fic characters of the boys travelling around meeting with authors.

Beta'd: As usual by the wonderful and paitent morning sunlight.

Good writing

Serenity for all

Sincerely Rae Artemis

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Late, Late Night TV

"If there is one thing worse than daytime television it is late, late night T.V." Rae groaned as she surfed channels trying to find something decent to watch. Finding nothing she settled on Much Music video flow, just for the calming noise. The blue TV's light illuminated the room, and Rae, in her PJ's, looked ghostly in the flickering light. She shifted in her comfy but ugly green chair and avoided looking at her laptop, the screen saver of Supernatural photos teasing her as the insufferable writer's block continued, again!

The TV flashed onto a commercial for Supernatural and Rae watched cursing in all the languages she knew for the length of the summer and the cliffhanger she'd been dying to see resolved for the last couple of months.

"Such language young lady, do you kiss your mother with that mouth?" A voice came from behind her and she fell out of her chair in shock, smashing into the coffee table just before she hit the cement floor.

"Ow, that looked like it hurt." Said another familiar voice, amusement mixed in with genuine sympathy. Rae jumped up and pounced onto both boys, dragging them into a hug that squeezed the air from their surprised lungs.

"Oh Gods! I thought I'd never see you guys again!" She mumbled into the hug, fear evident in her voice.

"Nice to see you too, um how about some air now?" Sam said as he gently pried her arm off.

"Oh sorry. Just, it's been…well you know it's just, I've hit the worst dry spell and I was worried that I was never going to see you guys again." She stood back and took in their appearance, noticing the bruises and stiffness to their movements. Dean grinned at her as he gingerly sat down on the love seat, holding his ribs and with a serious looking splint on his left arm, while Sam was only a little better off though still careful in his movement. "Who decided you guys needed to do some daring heroics this time?"

"Hmmm, it's been a busy day, let's say." Dean said shortly, not wanting to talk about it, still getting over the last death fic they'd been in. Sam gave him a sympathetic smile and nodded as they both agreed not to say anything.

"Fine, make me look for it." Rae said as she snatched up her laptop from beside Sam, who because of his bruises, was slow to move. She signed on to and read the ten most recently posted stories. "Wow, that is a bad day." Rae muttered, looking at the summaries: deathfic, angst, lots of beating the crap out of them fics, not named that of course but the summaries! "Geez, who the Hell did you guys piss off?"

"I don't know but whoever it is, I'm sorry." Dean groaned as he shifted on the loveseat, careful of his broken ribs.

"Yeah, it has been a hard day." Sam said, not looking at Rae or Dean, ashamed of something.

"Geez, Sammy, let it go okay? Everybody loses it at least once or twice, okay. For that matter I'm impressed how quickly you stopped and besides the guy deserved it. He hit my baby, do you know how much it will cost to fix the Impala?" Rae listened to the exchange while searching for the story, which turned out to be Red, by Anna Wolfe. Reading it she saw why Sam was upset and felt bad for Dean because the Impala would take some fixing up. Rae also remembered why Anna Wolfe was one of her favorite authors, the writing was beyond good as per usual.

"That sucks, I mean it is a great story and all but ouch!" Both looked up at her, and she suddenly felt like she'd intruded. "Sorry, but it does suck, please tell me this wasn't your entire day? Someone had to write something non-Hellish."

"Well we dropped by Anna's and talked about the story…well I did the talking, Sammy whined that he would never lose control and bull like that." Dean threw Sam a smug grin.

"I just don't think I'd lose it like that, I mean me lose it? Never happen, right Rae?"

"Everybody freaks out over something Sam and injured family? Who wouldn't go a little sociopathic?" Sam hung his head, a sigh escaping his lips. "Sorry, but I really do think you would but that's because you're brothers and you love ea-" She stopped talking as both Sam and Dean glared at her, both quick to deny the love of family, it wasn't macho or something.

"Me? Love this geek?" "Please he is too annoying!"

"Okay not love but…family bond and stuff like that." She held up her hands in surrender.

"Anyway, point was we dropped by Anna's and she said to say 'hi' to anyone else we saw, so hi. She did say it wasn't easy slamming the car but promised me she'd fix my baby up good as new. After that we-" Dean began only to be cut off by Sam, who leaned forward a conspiratorial glint in his eyes.

"We stopped by Morning Sunlight's and as usual, we swapped story ideas with her. Our timing was a little off though." Sam said, a smile lightening his features as he remembered the look of shock on Morning Sunlight's face when they'd shown up.

"We just felt like seeing what she was up to and forgot about the time change! So we show up and walk right into the room she was in and wouldn't you just know it all these little kids turn and somehow they manage to see us!" Dean chuckled

"What!" Rae clamped a hand over her mouth, belatedly remembering it was 2:00 am and that she had a roommate who would kill her. "I mean what? How? What?"

"Two very good questions. As best as Geek boy can figure it they just aren't jaded yet." He gestured to Sam who shook his head.

"No, that's not it, its just they still know how to 'play pretend' so their minds are more open, um, they haven't had reality completely forced upon them yet, so like a lot of writers they are more willing to allow for weird stuff. Only older people not unlike yourself-"

"For the love of it, twenty three isn't that old!" Rae exploded at him. She had suffered the indignity of having been called 'old' by all of her Pathfinders earlier that day and it had made her just a little tetchy. Rae clamped her mouth shut as she heard movement from her roommate's bedroom. A moment later Adele appeared looking pissed off.

"Rae if you don't shut up so help me God I will kill you. I have to be at work in five hours, working at a hospital where I can get things that would make your death look natural. Understand?" Adele growled out, oblivious to Dean and Sam who'd frozen as soon as she'd entered the room. Noticing that she couldn't see them, Dean flipped her off while Sam gave Dean a dirty look for it.

"Sorry Ads, I promise I'm shutting up now." Rae crossed her heart and tried to look solemn while Dean made faces at Adele, who was looking suspiciously at the love seat as though she could almost see him there.

"Just bloody well keep it down." Adele turned and stalked out of the room, slamming her door for emphasis.

"Isn't she just a ray of sunshine." Dean quipped sarcastically once she'd left; Rae threw a pillow at him.

"She could and possibly would kill me, so let's not give her a reason to okay? And Sam? If I'm old, so are you, and that would make Dean really old."

"And as I'm older than both of you, how about some respect?"

"No." Was the unanimous answer.

"Anyway, we are all not that old, so what were you were saying Sam?" Rae asked dragging back towards the subject.

"Huh? Oh, yeah so, in any case, writers are less in touch with reality and are more often able to see stuff that 'normal' people would look through."

"What the 'professor' here didn't mention is that we ended up telling the kids we were student teachers and were going to be helping out the class for the afternoon, it went fine. We taught them grammar and stuff, it was going great until one of the little girls recognized Sam from a poster her older sister had. After that it kinda snowballed and I got recognized so we spent the rest of the afternoon answering the kids' questions about monsters and so on until school let out. Ended up going back to her place to grab something to eat and discuss story ideas, it was cool." Dean reminisced with a vague smile on his face. "After that it was pretty much downhill what with getting the crap beat out of us every fic and every other fic having one of us die. There are some seriously morbid people out there." He dramatically leaned back throwing his arm across his eyes.

"Hey, we also hung out with P. 'cause ya know she's just great! We showed up and she was actually working on a new story, but took a break to hang out. She's got this great new shirt, it has the police sketches of the Boondock Saints, I thought it was cool. Still can't get over how short she is in person, I mean when someone is writing you get an idea about them from their style but somehow I thought she'd be taller."

"How tall? Like 5'6"? That'd be my call at least." Rae tried to create a mental image from her impressions.

"No, like 5'2". But that's not that short, some people are just freakishly tall." Dean said off-handedly, watching as Sam unconsciously slouched a little.

"You're just annoyed that she took you down with Lady Luck." Rae and Sam both watched as Dean's eye twitched at the mention of the name.

"Shhhh! Don't say that name, you might attract her or something and…while she is a beautiful and talented woman I don't want to take up her valuable time." He glanced around the room, smiling nervously.

"Anyway we got to talking about favorite movies and stuff and I think we yammered on about Boondock for an hour, but that movie is just brilliant. I love the mob mentality at the end!"

"I like the bit with the cat, 'Is it dead?' Cracks me up every time." Dean said in good spirits as he remembered the poor cat.

"No way the best part is the whole bit between the detective and Agent Smecker. The bagel bit, too funny for words." Rae said, desperately trying to smother her giggles for fear of her roommate.

"I like the part before the credits with the public opinion, that was brilliant." Sam said putting in his two cents. "We were actually going to watch it but it got really late and she had to work so we decided to come see what you were up to."

"Oh, what's she working on?" Rae pounced with the question hoping to get a preview of what was coming next.

"Well, right now, she's working on Hangman and it's going pretty well." Dean and Sam exchanged a secret brotherly glance.

"Details man, I need details!" Rae leaned forward, trying desperately not to wring the information out of Sam.

"We don't kiss and tell." Dean said from behind her, smiling smugly as she threw him a dark look. "Okay, I might be the one kissing and telling, but the writers code can't be broken. What? Would you want us to tell people what you're planning?"

"No, I guess not." She sighed defeated. "I don't even get a clue?"

"Nope." The brothers chorused.

"Since you guys have had such a hard day, I'll be nice and do a fluff fic if not for the bad day though…" Rae trailed off unable to think of a good threat, nothing could scare them after the day they'd had. "How did you guys know I'd be awake anyway? I could have been sleeping, it is…wow its 2:30."

"Rae, hmm, how do I put this…" Sam began, trying to be diplomatic.

"You are weird." Dean stated flatly.

"How's that?"

"You don't sleep at night, ever. That's how we knew we could drop by. If I didn't know better, I'd say you were a vampire."

"Pains me to say this Rae, but he's right. You are a night person, and you don't sleep so you're a sure bet." Sam said shrugging his shoulders helplessly.

"Let's just stop there before I am forced to write a mean fic or something, okay?" Rae said, non-plussed to be considered that predictable. "So are you hungry?"

"When isn't he?" Sam asked, helping Dean up and gestured for Rae to lead the way.

"Bitch."

"Jerk."

"So pizza?" Rae asked after the moment of brotherly affections, they could insult each other but not say the 'L' word? Dean and Sam were both grinning as they eagerly followed her to the kitchen. "Maybe you guys can give me a couple ideas over some nice hot pizza and cold beer."

"Hey Rae?"

"Yeah Dean?"

"Nice PJ's." Rae felt a strong blush crawling up her neck.

"Shut up Dean."


	4. Thanks

Okay, here is the usual disclaimer: I do not own supernatural, nor any character created by the show, nor some of the ones in this story 'cause I stole them from almost 'real' life (my friends). Nor am I making any money from this unless my friends try and bribe me not to put it up, but I will anyway, so alas no money.

A/N: I was having a very nice Canadian (I say Canadian because ours is earlier than the U.S.A.'s) Thanksgiving dinner with my family and grandparents, when suddenly this idea hit me, so here it is. Sorry for being so late but it took time to get the details right, not to mention I had to spend sometime with my grandparents before they went home and well controlling my insanity enough to write takes time.

Beta'd: By morning sunlight whose help is as always dearly appreciated and my friend Everett, even though I didn't use him in this one.

Good writing to everyone

Serenity for all

Sincerely Rae Artemis

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Thanks

She stared at the book, threw a glance at the night's sacrifice before returning to the confusing and somewhat mystic instructions from the book, which were no help at all. The headless carcass lay in front of her, waiting to be prepared for the night's ritual.

It was Thanksgiving and somehow she'd been roped into helping with dinner. Normally she'd hide out with her father and grandpa, watching whatever CFL game was playing. Rae's grandma, mother and sister always did the cooking, it was a good system; it had worked for years after all! This year however, her parents were in Mexico and her sister was working a shift in the Emergency Room right up until dinner, so it was up to Rae to make dinner, a first.

"Grandma, what do I do next?" She called out as she searched the enigmatic cookbook in front of her for help.

"Well, first do you want to explain why you're up to your elbows in turkey guts?" A familiar voice asked gleefully, the smirk very clear in the tone used. Rae's head snapped up, eyes wide, a shocked expression on her face.

"Please, please, please don't be who I think that is." Rae pleaded quietly, her eyes shut and a general sense of dread settling over her.

"Why don't you want it to be who you think it is?" Came the puzzled inquiry, it sounded like Sam was frowning when he said it. Sighing in resignation Rae opened her eyes and was about to explain when her grandmother breezed into the kitchen. She was a slender older woman wearing an apron and thick glasses carrying a table clothe.

"Uh…um…I was just talking to myself, you know wondering what I was supposed to do next with the-" Rae stuttered, worrying her grandmother would think she was insane.

"Rachel, you should have told me you were inviting some friends over for Thanksgiving." Anne scolded her granddaughter, as she nodded to the two young men who were standing in the kitchen staring at her with shocked expressions on their faces. "Hello, I'm Rachel's grandmother Anne and my husband Lenny, is watching the B.C. Lions game in the TV room just through there." Anne smiled at the two boys who appeared to be frozen. "Rachel are you going to introduce me to your friends?"

Rae shook her head, snapping out of the shock. "Uh, yeah sorry. Grandma this is Dean and Sam Winchester. Um, they're visiting from out of town and just dropped by to say 'hi'." Rae pinched the back of her hand, trying to snap herself out of whatever strange dream she was having. "Grandma have you been put on any medication recently?"

"Rachel Mary Artemis, whatever are you going on about? Sam, Dean, nice to meet you and we'd be happy to have you join us for dinner, if you don't have any plans?" Anne turned to face the brothers, Rae gesturing them to say 'no' behind her grandmother's back.

"We'd be happy to join you for dinner, Anne." Dean accepted graciously, giving her his most charming smile, as Sam and Rae stared at him in disbelief. "Right Sammy?"

"Uh…yeah, I mean yes. Yes thank you very much ma'am." Sam for once so shocked he forgot to correct Dean for calling him Sammy. "Is there anything we can do to help?"

"Well if either one of you can cook half decent that would be helpful, we're running a little light in our usual workforce this Thanksgiving. And take off your jackets and stay a while boys." Anne smiled at the two charming visitors, glad to see that her granddaughter had some pleasant young gentlemen companions. Both boys shrugged out of their jackets at her insistence, smiling sheepishly.

"Pardon me but you keep saying 'Thanksgiving' but that isn't for another month." Dean smiled apologetically. "At least I didn't think it was for another month."

"Oh, you boys must be Americans, so this is Columbus Day for you. Our Thanksgiving is earlier than your is, lads." Anne smiled sweetly. "Now if you kids will excuse me, I've got to get the potatoes from the basement as well as dessert. Rachel, you just call if you need help."

After Anne had left the kitchen there was a moment of silence, as they all stood looking at each other with varying expressions of confusion of their faces. Dean began to smirk and Rae catching sight of this started blushing in a pre-emptive strike.

"So…'Rachel', where's the beer?" He grinned at her, all innocence except for the gleam in his eye.

"In that bar fridge over there and to paraphrase Sam, the name is Rae." She fought the urge to grab the very tempting knife on the counter mere centimetres from her hands.

"Ignore him Rae. Whose place is this? We dropped by your apartment and nobody was there so we decided to track you down." Sam asked trying to hide his own smile.

"It's my parent's place, only place big enough for proper cooking and this way my grandparents can stay a while." She grumbled, at the moment loathing her grandmother for using her full name. Sam had asked when they'd first met if her full name was Rachel, she'd said no because she hated her full name.

"Nice place." Dean remarked taking in his surroundings. "Good selection of beer, Rachel."

"Do you need any help?" Sam asked seeing Rae's eyes dart from Dean to the knife again.

"Do you cook? 'Cause if you do, even a little, please feel free to jump in." Rae held up her hands in surrender, Sam washed up and checked the book before gently shoving Rae to one side and taking the turkey from her well meaning, though inept hands.

"Well I'll leave you two ladies to it, I believe I heard something earlier about football." Dean had just begun sidling towards the door when Anne reappeared in it struggling with a huge sack of potatoes.

"Good to see a young man willing to help out." Anne remarked giving Sam a bright smile, behind her Dean stuck out his tongue at Sam. "As for you…Dean is it?" He nodded quickly, there was something about her that demanded obedience; she reminded him of his father a little. "I'm afraid we'll need to press you into kitchen duty as well. As I said earlier, the usual troops are missing and I'm afraid that if we don't get going we won't eat until midnight." Dean felt his shoulders straighten and fought the urge to salute.

"Be more than happy to do whatever I can." Dean found himself replying before he could help it.

"Wonderful, I'll just get you to peel and slice the carrots, potatoes and yams. Meanwhile I'll start Rachel's favourite, brussel sprouts." Rae made a gagging noise at the mere mention of her most detested vegetable enemy, the dreaded evil green brains.

As the dinner prep continued the foursome became chatty, much to Rae's horror, and before long Anne was regaling a laughing Dean and Sam with stories of Rachel's youth; all the dance recitals, school plays and other things Rae had fought to suppress in detail. Once the food was a mere forty-five minutes from being ready Rae, Sam and Dean were all kicked out of the kitchen and told to wash up for supper. Dean and Sam looked to Rae for clarification.

"She means grab a shower and get dressed for dinner."

"How? We don't exactly have a car or even bags to grab stuff from." Sam replied, throwing up his hands in frustration, every time he was about to enjoy a nice, normal bit of life something messed it up.

"Well…tell you what you both grab a shower and I'll see about the clothes." Rae offered racking her brain for anything at all. After directing the boys to the basement, her old room and the guest stuff, she pounced on the phone.

"Hey Peter this is Rae, I have a big favour to ask of you…"

When Sam had finished his shower he went back to the guest room, which apparently used to be Rae's room, to change back into his clothes.

He was just annoyed about the dinner thing because every time he got the slightest taste of normal it was ripped away from him. It had been really nice making dinner, he'd done the same with Jess and her family but never had Dean there too. It had been really bizarre to see Dean chatting with a grandma and being all 'domestic', even when they were kids it hadn't been so…cosy/homey.

Sam opened the door with a sigh; a normal dinner would be nice, even if 'Thanksgiving' had come a month early. On the bed was a nice outfit that was most definitely not the clothes he'd been forced to sleep in the night before. Looking around he found his clothes neatly folded on a chair, the comparison between the two sets of clothing made it clear which one he was wearing to dinner. After getting changed, he ran into Rae who was about to duck into the bathroom for her shower. He felt a slight pang of guilt when he realized that she'd probably get stuck with a cold shower going after Dean and himself.

"Rae, where did you…how did you find clothes for me? You don't have a brother you never talk about do you?" Sam stammered out.

"No, I just called in a favour with a couple of my guy friends I'm always talking about. My friends Peter and Dave don't live far so I ran out to borrow some clothes from them, glad to see that they fit." She gave him a smile then quickly slipped by to grab a quick shower, to clean the flour out of her hair.

"Wow, Sammy you look like a dork."

"And you look like a Blues Brother."

"Jealous."

"Jerk."

"Bitch." Both brothers smiled at one another, both feeling a little surreal in the borrowed clothes and borrowed family holiday.

"We should probably see if Anne needs help setting the table or something." Sam felt weird but strangely content. Running up the stairs, shoving his brother like they were five, he could almost forget the holidays that they'd missed out on, almost.

"My, my, my. Don't you two clean up nice." Anne smiled at them, as she finished setting the table, she was now dressed in a cardigan, dress slacks and pearls. "Boys this is my husband Lenny, Lenny these are some friends of Rachel's; they'll be joining us for dinner." Sam and Dean turned to face a tall older man; he was only 5'10" but gave the illusion of being taller because of his gaunt figure. He cleared his throat and in a somewhat hoarse voice greeted the boys.

"So you're friends of our Rae? Either one of you her boyfriend?" Lenny asked gruffly, ending on a cough that noted he had been a smoker for a long time. Sam and Dean exchanged worried looks and weren't sure how to answer, fortunately they were saved from having to.

"Grandpa! Be polite, you're just meeting these guys, you'll give them a bad impression of yourself." Rae chided him from the stairs having arrived just as he had asked his blunt question. Sam and Dean were both shocked to see Rae in a skirt, all dressed up, it was a little disconcerting.

"Rae, I'm eighty-three years old, I don't really worry much about what people think. Neither does your grandmother. When you get to be our age, what other people think doesn't really matter." He gave her a patronizing smile, and then returned his razor sharp gaze to the boys.

"Nope, we're just some friends of her's is all, sir." Dean replied, again fighting the strong urge to salute. Must be something about this family, they all have that 'orders will be obeyed' air about them. Dean thought to himself.

"That's nice, dears." Anne smiled widely at the boys, though a bit disappointed. "Rachel, Nicole phoned, she's going to be stuck at the hospital for a while yet so she said to go ahead without her, though we should save her some brussel sprouts."

"She can have mine." Rae offered, still feeling a little dazed by the fact both her grandparents were able to see Dean and Sam. As far as Rae knew the only people who could see the brothers were, writers, little kids and those who were generally dealing with a different type of reality most people didn't see. It sort of worried Rae that her grandparents could see Dean and Sam, gave the old mental illness front a new tone for sure.

Anne directed them to head towards the table which was full with all the bowls and plates of food, mashed potatoes, carrots, brussel sprouts, yams, pickles sweet and sour, beets, salad, cranberry sauce, homemade buns, gravy and of course the huge turkey. An entire afternoon's work laid out on the table looking delicious the thought that they had accomplished it made it even more impressive. Rae smiled softly as she saw her grandfather pull out her grandmother's chair. She had to smother a laugh when Sam did the same for her, Dean rolling his eyes at his little brother's antics, as her grandmother gave an approving nod. After pouring everyone a glass of wine Lenny proposed a toast.

"To new friends, something to truly be thankful for."

"Here, here." Chorused everyone at the table, a general feeling of peace falling over them all even the two tired warriors.

The meal progressed with more toasts and Sam and Dean carefully dodging questions about their home and family, falling back on the usual road trip story they knew by heart. Rae almost choked on a mouthful of turkey when Dean had answered that he was an accountant and how he wished his work were more interesting. Anne was very impressed to hear that Sam was pre-law at Stanford though a little disappointed that he was taking a break to go on a road trip with his brother. Lenny had replied that his time on the railroad, travelling around Canada in his youth hadn't done him any harm, and a young man should learn about his country, himself and that a road trip was an excellent way to do so.

The dinner conversation was fairly tame (Rae had worried her grandfather would air his old fashioned views of life, religion, everything); she actually relaxed and was disappointed when it came to an end. Dean and Sam helped clear the table and after dessert Rae's grandparents called it an early night, Dean and Sam not yet willing to leave the pseudo-family environment they'd enjoyed all night.

Sitting around the table as the candles burned down and the ice cream melted Sam feared to move, afraid that if they left the table they would loose the peaceful feeling. Sam had few memories of this kind of peace: when his father had rarely comforted him as a child, or Dean had on the many occasions when John was too busy, when he'd wake up in the morning with Jess next to him, meeting his mother for the first and last time.

They made small talk and Sam put off leaving for as long as he could, until a surprised Rae looked at the clock and saw that it was midnight.

"Geez, where the Hell is that kid? She should have gotten off hours ago!"

"Where was she working?" Dean asked, hearing the worry in Rae's off handed comment as an older sibling himself he knew the well-hidden signs.

"The ER, she could've been held up, holiday weekend means there'll be plenty of business tonight."

"That's an pretty bleak outlook on life." Sam chided, worried that he and Dean weren't the only ones with a lack on innocence.

"I grew up with a paramedic for a father, an ICU unit clerk as a mother, a respiratory therapist as a sister and over half my extended family in the medical field. I just know what happens, that's all." Rae shrugged it off as she fidgeted, her fingers itching to call her sister but knowing that Nicole was probably busy at the hospital.

"Yeah that's not being bleak, its realism Sammy." Dean threw his brother a lopsided grin. "Rae just give her a call already, it can't hurt."

"Fine, if it'll make you feel better."

"No, but you will, so do it already." Dean smiled at her stubborn streak, almost as bad as his own. Rae had just picked up the phone, jumping as it rang in her hand.

"Hello? Nikki? About time kid, what's been taking you so long?" Rae paced as she spoke to her sister, her agitation clear in her every move. "What do you mean you ran into someone I know? Who? Meg?" Sam and Dean sat at attention at the mere mention of the name. "I don't know anyone named Meg… she said she's a friend of Sam and Dean's?" A look of horror slowly crept over Rae's face. "No! Nicole, do not give her a ride! Don't! No, listen to me…just listen okay? I know that girl and she'd bad news. If you love me as your sister…No, I'm not being dramatic! Just trust me okay? Don't give her a ride. Call her a taxi, I'll pay. But do not give her a ride. Just come home, okay? Please?" Rae swallowed hard beginning to panic at the thought of Meg alone with Nicole. "Please Nikki?" A note of desperate fear evident in her voice, causing Dean and Sam to edge closer to the frightened girl. "Nikki?"

"She's not going to get in a car with that psycho bitch, is she?" Dean asked holding Rae's face in his hands, trying to get her attention. Sam stood behind Rae, hands on her shoulders, a grim expression on his face as his brother knelt in front of Rae. She sat in the chair her shoulders hunched, lost to the world as the phone fell from her numb hands, a dial tone droning endlessly. "Rae? She's not is she? Rae?"


End file.
